Thursday, March 3, 2011

At first, I just thought it was the Internet access at our apartment here in Istanbul. One minute, our Internet connection is fast. Other times, it takes forever for a page to load!

Today, I learned the REAL reason why Blogger has been acting up all week! It's been banned in Turkey!

I couldn't believe it! The government really thinks shutting down a "voice to the rest of the world" is a way to solve a dispute over unauthorized webcasts of Turkish football. I had to learn about the news from a complete stranger today. Then, I found this news article online published by the Hürriyet Daily News.

So because one person did something illegal, the government wants to punish everyone else out there too. Come on! What happened to free speech? Does a citizen not have the right to express his/her opinion out there? Apparently not this country!

I'm just so irritated right now! If the U.S. government blocked every web site because it didn't agree with something or there was an illegal webcast of something, there would be a huge outcry. Now, I don't necessarily agree it's okay to post the unauthorized webcasts to begin with. However, I think there would be a better way to solve this problem than to just ban the entire medium.

Just a few months ago, in October, the Turkish government was talking about banning Facebook across the entire country. See related article also in the Hürriyet Daily News. The ban was being discussed because someone had said something "offensive" against the government.

I won't rant and rave too much more, but I just wanted to express my displeasure. I will continue to write my blog if I can.

It just makes you realize how much you take for granted in the U.S. and other developed countries. Be happy you can enjoy the simple privilege of logging onto the Internet and saying whatever you want.